Formula One is digesting the most important technical changes in its history just as it faces serious financial challenges. The reality of the global economic meltdown hit F1 when Honda made a swift exit in December. That distant boardroom decision refocused the minds of the remaining teams, the governing body and the holders of the sport’s commercial rights.

That is the backdrop as we embark on a new season. The opening salvos were fired last week with a highly provocative plan for 2010 announced by FIA president Max Mosley, under which teams who agree to an audited budget cap — set at £30m, or 80% less than the current spend of the top teams — will be allowed significant technical advantages, such as higher engine revs and less restrictive aerodynamics.

Amid that dust storm, we look set for a fascinating season. Recent testing suggests that world champion Lewis Hamilton will struggle in the early races with a midfield car, while 29-year-old Jenson Button, who was potentially staring at the end of his career a few weeks ago, could be top Brit at the front of the field with Brawn GP, which has risen from the ashes of Honda.

Hamilton down the grid? Button at the front? Honda replaced by Brawn? That’s just for starters. This year sees radical regulation changes, with aerodynamic and tyre alterations, the incorporation of regenerative energy KERS devices, no in- season testing, and a limit on the use of engines.

The FIA also declared that whoever won the most races, regardless of points, would be crowned the world champion. It’s a concept not far removed from Bernie Ecclestone’s idea of a gold, silver and bronze medal system, and it might have been Hamilton’s best hope of retaining his title, given that he could fall behind on points if his McLaren team struggle.

I was sanguine about this proposed change if it created more aggressive race action. However, after a challenge over its validity because of a lack of unanimous team support, this hot potato has been deferred until at least 2010.

Although McLaren appear to have made last-minute progress, further track time is now largely restricted to Grand Prix weekends, when tyre and engine availability issues come into play. This could be a long, hard season for Hamilton, who has not driven a midfield car in his career.

The general testing form has confounded most insiders. Designers, engineers and drivers were predicting that the regulation changes would spread the field, but the opposite appears to have happened. While Ferrari and BMW have looked consistently strong, Toyota, Renault, Williams and Red Bull have been very closely matched too. Joining the party just before the music stopped — with a hurriedly bolted-on Mercedes-Benz customer engine, and sticking to the track like a Scalextric car going round for hundreds of laps faster than anything else — has been the Brawn.

The drivers face fresh challenges too. The new “slick” dry tyres yield more grip to the front end than the rear — because removing the four grooves on the narrower front tyres has given them proportionately more rubber biting into the track — so the performance of the rear tyres is fading more quickly. Regulations dictate that drivers must use two different and more widely spaced rubber compounds during a race. The result is that a badly handled or aggressively driven car will destroy its rear tyres exponentially faster.

Furthermore, the drivers must manage the KERS energy recovery device from a button on the steering wheel, using either a trickle of extra power generated from the normally wasted braking energy for improved lap time, or as a burst of energy to defend or pass. These costly devices are not compulsory, and less than half the grid will have them fitted at the first race next weekend, which rather sends out the wrong message.

KERS brings associated problems of weight distribution, cooling and safety, but there is every incentive to get on top of such problems, given that an extra 80 horsepower is available, representing a 12% power boost for just under seven seconds each lap.

The new aerodynamic rules tax the drivers further because of a cockpit-adjustable front wing flap. The angle of the flap can be changed twice per lap over a six-degree range to fine-tune the car, especially when following others in close formation and turbulent air.